The High Court has frozen seven accounts belonging to Estama Investment Limited, a company said to have been the biggest beneficiary of the alleged Sh5.3 billion Health ministry scandal.
Justice Grace Nzioka (pictured) yesterday said the accounts, which hold millions of shillings allegedly paid by the ministry, will remain frozen until she rules on the matter on March 27. Estama was paid Sh800 million for supplying 100 mobile clinics, currently lying in the NYS field, Mombasa.
The orders follow an application by the Kenya Revenue Authority, which wants Sh325 million from the firm. “Let all the money be preserved,” Nzioka said.
The tax agency has told the court it has information Estama has been moving funds to offshore accounts and intentionally filing incorrect returns. Through lawyer Okello Ogello, KRA claims Estama has accumulated substantial sums of money through its business dealings with the ministry and it intends to access it to recover value-added tax.
